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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/27200546">Fairy Tricks</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/Wanderbird/pseuds/Wanderbird'>Wanderbird</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Misc Linked Universe things [4]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Linked Universe - Fandom, The Legend of Zelda &amp; Related Fandoms</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Gen, Kokiri Forest, all the kids are there, but its mostly those six</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-10-26</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-10-26</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-06 17:34:16</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>1,462</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/27200546</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/Wanderbird/pseuds/Wanderbird</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>“We shouldn’t go in here.” Legend stopped dead in his tracks, peering into the woods. “Wind shouldn’t, at the very least. There are *fairies* in there.”<br/>In which fairies are not necessarily benign, some facts about Time are brought to light, and one does not simply stop being Kokiri due to a few years of magic aging.</p><p>A gift for LA Arts!</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Misc Linked Universe things [4]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/2103576</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>4</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>104</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Fairy Tricks</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>This was based on a couple of Arts' drawings and also a bunch of her ideas for hermonstrous fairies and kokiri au, which are the two links below. Go look at her tumblr! She's awesome!</p><p>https://loz-and-lu-fan-blog.tumblr.com/post/620285457503322112/small-piece-i-did-trying-to-figure-photoshop-this<br/>https://loz-and-lu-fan-blog.tumblr.com/post/620814692078714880/of-aus-lore-and-monsterous-fairies?is_related_post=1</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>“We shouldn’t go in here.” Legend stopped dead in his tracks, peering into the woods. “Wind shouldn’t, at the very least. There are <em>fairies </em>in there.”<br/>
              “Aren’t fairies… helpful?” Sky looked confused, almost bumping into Legend before he came to a stop. “They’ve certainly helped me a great deal in my journeys.”<br/>
Twilight snorted. “I’m sure they did, but you weren’t a kid at the time. Or a young teenager, in Wind’s case.”<br/>
              “I don’t understand.” Sky frowned, and turned to glance at the rest of the group. “Do they behave differently around children? Is there some danger I should be aware of?”</p><p>The old man’s mouth was twitching a little, like he was trying not to laugh, but the others didn’t notice. After a moment of tense looks, Hyrule stepped in. “They… like to help travelers, yes. But places with a lot of fairies tend not to be…” he hesitated. “At least in my Hyrule, places with a lot of fairies are some of those areas where anyone who goes in doesn’t come back.”<br/>
Legend nodded sharply. “It’s the same in mine. Nobody goes far into the Lost Woods—well, I did, and I came out alright, but I was already an adult and I wasn’t there long. It’s much worse the younger you are—if a kid wanders off to play even <em>near </em>the woods, they’re not coming back.”<br/>
              “Mine is the same way, I think.” Twilight agreed. “So it’s not only your timeline. I did manage to save the village kids who ended up trapped near there, but they were only there for an hour or two. Not like that kid with the flute. They just… disappear.”<br/>
              “Sometimes you can find them again.” Hyrule said softly. He didn’t look happy about it. “They aren’t the same when you do. I found a child once, on an island—his mother said he’d been kidnapped—but he was accompanied by a fairy that refused to leave him, and by the time a year had passed he was gone again.”</p><p>Time spoke at last, and it was strange seeing that amused little smirk on his face. “You all aren’t <em>wrong.</em>” He paused, tearing his gaze away from the forest. “This is the Lost Woods. <em>My </em>Lost Woods.”</p><p>              “We’ll be fine,” Warriors tried to say. “Right? I mean come on, there are <em>nine </em>of us. We can defend ourselves, and we can defend Wind too if anything happens.”<br/>
              “I can protect myself!”<br/>
              “Not from this.” Time said, and the words brought silence in their wake. He continued calmly, placidly, something weirdly insectile in his movements. “Wind, from what I can recall, the Lost Woods in your time had all the Kokiri it could handle. It was small. Confined to the isle, relatively safe for humans. My Lost Woods, on the other hand, are vast and twisted. Even adults cannot escape.”</p><p>              “The <em>why did you bring us here?!” </em>Legend exclaimed. He glared at the old man with annoyance that almost seemed absurd next to that enigmatic smirk. “The monsters we’re tracking went toward the mountains, that’s what Hyrule said. We’re going the wrong way!”<br/>
              “There’s a shortcut in these woods.”<br/>
              “We can’t <em>go </em>through the woods!” he shouted. “You <em>just said </em>it’s too dangerous!”</p><p>              “Relax.” Time’s expression had not changed, but there was definitely a note of irritation in his voice. “It’s too dangerous for <em>humans. </em>But you will all be safe with me.” The rest of the group only stared. After a moment, the old man cocked his head to one side and continued. “I thought for sure one of you would have figured it out by now.”</p><p>              A lot of little things suddenly made <em>much </em>more sense to Hyrule, judging by the look on his face. Some of Time’s odd behavioral quirks, the way he never took off the bottom layer of his armor where anyone could see, the faintly nonhuman look about him. The way he crooned and sang sometimes to fairies, and the way they sat calmly on his hand or played in his hair. And he always had fairies on him, Hyrule realized, even if they lived in bottles and seemed to switch out regularly. That was the only part that didn’t quite fit.<br/>
              “Where’s your fairy?” he asked, his voice distinctly wary. “The one who stays with you? Every Kokiri I’ve seen in my travels has had one. We always thought it a sign of ill omen, but the old wizards said the fairies were keeping the children alive.”</p><p>Legend straightened abruptly. “You’re a—<em>you’re a Kokiri?!”<br/>
</em>              “Your wizards are right.” Time shrugged. “Kokiri need magic from the fairies to survive, at least if they’re going to be healthy and in their right minds, until we grow into fairies ourselves. Navi was mine. She and I were separated a long time ago, because of circumstances I can’t go into right now, and by the time I was back where she might have found me, she was gone. I’m certain she’s either dead or feral by now, and she is too far away still for me to feel her pain, but— it was a long time ago. I make do.” A fairy chose this moment to slip out of his bag, chittering excitedly. It flew up to Time’s face—and the old man smiled for real. “Yes, we’re here. You’ve never been to this version of it, have you?”</p><p>Legend let out a slow and shaky breath.<br/>
“You want us,” he said, “to trust you, a Kokiri, not to kidnap or kill or- or whatever it is the Kokiri do to everyone who comes near while we waltz through the Lost Woods?”</p><p>Time looked up at him, no longer amused. “The children would <em>die </em>if left in the woods without us. It doesn’t matter from what—animals, exposure, illness, any number of things. The ones who are kidnapped by foolish monsters who hide within our domain, the ones who just got lost—they would die. Don’t you see? But we’re not here just so I can convince you all that the fairies are right to bond themselves to children and turn them into Kokiri. We’re here to catch monsters.” His glare raked over them all, until his one good eye landed on Hyrule. “You’ve trusted me all this time. You’ve trusted the <em>fairies </em>all this time, who exhaust themselves healing you over and over again without a second thought. <em>You </em>may all be oblivious, Legend, but these woods know me. If I tell them the lot of you are off-limits, they will respect that. All <em>you</em> have to worry about is getting out before the magic poisoning kills you—because <em>that</em> is what kills those who enter the forest. Not the fairies. Not the Kokiri. In <em>almost </em>every case.”</p><p>Hyrule met his gaze head-on, though his fingers itched with nerves. This too made sense to him. Of course it was the magic. There had been so much magic in those woods it felt like fingernails on slate to even be there.</p><p>He couldn’t picture it. Time, as a child? Time as a child, lost in the dark with bruises where he’d been bitten, staring into nothing with all the fascination of someone who’d eaten too many not-quite-edible mushrooms?<br/>
Hyrule shivered. “I trust you,” he said. Besides, what else could they do? Turn around and try to catch up with the monsters the long way around, after having lost most of a day on this detour?</p><p>There was a tiny nod. “Good.” Time turned. “This goes for all of you—yes, Wild, you too: Eat nothing you find here, drink nothing you find here. Keep any food or water in your pouches so it doesn’t absorb too much magic. Do not fall asleep. And stay close to me, so the fairies can tell you are mine. Understood?”</p><p>The others gave various signs of acknowledgement, though Legend still seemed stiffly uncomfortable.</p><p>              “Wind…” Time stared at the youngest among them for a long moment. “You are the most susceptible to all of this, and the only hero among us still young enough to form the bond. If the magic gets too strong, <em>hold on to me.” </em>He hesitated. “I won’t let them bite you unless there is no other choice. But if it ever becomes relevant, I want you to know: being made Kokiri is far from the end. And you would make a <em>wonderful</em> Kokiri.”</p><p>Uncertainty was written all over Wind’s face. But after a few seconds, the sailor made his decision, and nodded. “I trust you.” He grinned. “And I’m happy with my life as it is, though the other Kokiri I know seem pretty content too. Now let’s <em>go, </em>before those monsters beat us up the mountain!”</p><p>They went.</p>
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